FLAC vs MP3's

mookieblalock
mookieblalock Posts: 3,589
edited July 2008 in The Porch
How big is the sound difference? Also, do you lose the FLAC sound quality when you load into itunes, burn to CD's, etc.?
Post edited by Unknown User on

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  • jeffbr
    jeffbr Seattle Posts: 7,177
    mookieblalock wrote:
    How big is the sound difference? Also, do you lose the FLAC sound quality when you load into itunes, burn to CD's, etc.?

    It really depends on what you're listening with. If you have a decent system, you may be able to hear MP3 artifacts. The issue is that MP3s use a lossy compression, which means that some data is thrown away to save space. Most of the data may be inaudible, but you definitely will lose fidelity.

    You don't lose sound quality burning FLAC to CD. You don't lose sound quality decoding FLAC to WAV. You will lose some quality going from WAV to you iPod unless you use Apple's lossless encoding.

    If you only plan on listening to the music on your iPod, the MP3s will probably suffice. If you plan on listening on your home or car stereo, and they're decent systems, you should definitely go with FLAC.
    "I'll use the magic word - let's just shut the fuck up, please." EV, 04/13/08
  • LikeAnOcean
    LikeAnOcean Posts: 7,718
    jeffbr wrote:
    It really depends on what you're listening with. If you have a decent system, you may be able to hear MP3 artifacts. The issue is that MP3s use a lossy compression, which means that some data is thrown away to save space. Most of the data may be inaudible, but you definitely will lose fidelity.

    You don't lose sound quality burning FLAC to CD. You don't lose sound quality decoding FLAC to WAV. You will lose some quality going from WAV to you iPod unless you use Apple's lossless encoding.

    If you only plan on listening to the music on your iPod, the MP3s will probably suffice. If you plan on listening on your home or car stereo, and they're decent systems, you should definitely go with FLAC.
    Exactly.. also depends on the bit rate of an mp3 and how good your hearing is. I'm not satisfied with anything below 192 kbps. I can't really tell the difference between mp3 and FLAC at anything above that bit rate.
  • JDfromDE
    JDfromDE Posts: 60
    I'd go with FLAC. Pay the extra money, and then you can convert the songs to MP3 yourself. It gives you the option of having the high quality stuff should you ever get a decent system, and the convenience of the mp3s for your iTunes, iPod, phone or whatever. For the extra few dollars, it's really like buying both the FLAC files and the mp3 files.
    9/1/00, 4/28/03, 7/5/03, 7/6/03, 7/9/03, 10/1/04, 9/30/05, 10/3/05, 5/27/06, 5/28/06, 5/30/06, 6/3/06, 8/2/07, 6/14/08, 6/20/08, 6/25/08, 8/16/08
  • Given to...
    Given to... Wyoming Posts: 5,007
    OK, first let me apologize for being ignorant...
    Sorry.
    Now, will you 'splain to me what happens if I put my new hard copy bootleg into my computer and by using default settings on iTunes, how much will I lose?
    And if I were to burn a copy for the gym, would Windows media copy it lossless without tinkering with the settings?
    "...would you like some forks?" EV 12-02-06
  • mookieblalock
    mookieblalock Posts: 3,589
    Thanks for all the responses (although I only understood about 75% of it).

    I plan on

    a) burning CD's of all the shows
    b) importing songs into my itunes

    I have above very good sound systems in my home and car, but my home system is slightly outdated (about 5 years old). I don't use a CD player, just connect my ipod to the system.

    Based on this, what should I purchase?

    thanks again for everyone's help.

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